Derek Doeffinger

Article: Sharpening and printing.Look sharp...but not TOO sharp

To show maximum detail, use a glossy or semi-gloss (satin) paper. Detail not important for this image? Then choose any high-quality paper whose surface reinforces the mood you are trying to create.

Article: Five amazing camera and subject motion special effects.Slow down your shutter speed and do incredible things

Go ahead—move your camera, zoom your lens, encourage your subjects to move around, and even throw your camera...while the shutter is open. Welcome to the wonderful world of slow shutter speed and camera and subject motion!

Article: Capturing the essence of a place – Travel photography tips.Create destination cover shots

You can’t go to a fantastic place and come away with only one picture. Or can you? Naw, you can’t.

Article: Photographing Mexico’s colonial architecture –Travel Photography tips.Rich, saturated colors, no Photoshopping necessary

When it comes to food, music, and architecture, I must confess I’m no connoisseur. I can say with equal amounts of enthusiasm and ignorance that I know what I like.

Article: The day your itinerary died – Travel photography tips.What to do when adversity strikes (or a volcano erupts)

Like me—like most photographers—you probably prefer information that is specific, concrete, technique-oriented, and visually demonstrable.

Article: Photographing local people.How to avoid embarrassing situations while trying to take pictures in other countries

Do as I do now and not as I did then, and maybe a certain street flower lady in La Paz, Boliva won’t swat you upside the head with a bouquet of gladiolus.

Article: Researching your photographic trip.Destination choices affect the photos you bring back

Where to go? When to go? What to see? How long to stay? But first, where to stay? What to do while you’re there? Then where to go next? How to get around?

Article: Travel photography: What gear to take?.Don’t get weighted down by too much equipment

As I have grown older I have embraced “the less is more” approach to gear for travel photography. And my pictures seem better for it.

Article: Planning for a big trip abroad.Set goals, both photographic and personal

This is the start of a series of articles about travel photography, which will appear here over the next two weeks. To be more precise, this series is about taking pictures during your big trip.

Article: Classic window-light still lifes.Let the natural soft light in!

Like most photographers my greatest photographic joy is to travel to exotic locales where I can take pictures of llamas dashing through the ruins of Machu Pichu, surfers hanging five on the curls at Big Sur, or skyscrapers soaring in any big city.

Article: Don’t overdo Photoshop!.What’s a sure way to kill a photograph? Going wild with Photoshop “fixes”

Hello. My name is Derek and I’ve been a Photoshopaholic since…

Article: Backwards take pictures should you.Like Yoda I write, so better photographs you will take.

What is it you photograph? When do you photograph? This week’s tips, which will usher out the old year and in the new, ask you to consider the very essence of your photography.

Article: Show the subject unclearly.Mystery and obscurity are good things

Sometimes, instead of showing a subject clearly, try deliberately photographing it vaguely, obscurely, or unclearly. Now, why on earth would you do that?

News: 100 in 100: Show the subject unclearly.

Sometimes, instead of showing a subject clearly, try deliberately photographing it vaguely, obscurely, or unclearly. Now, why on earth would you do that? One reason is simple: variety. Why sho

News: 100 in 100: Tilt your horizons.

Day 88: Skill-wise, this is one of the easiest tips to execute. Attitude-wise, some of you may not find it so easy to do. The only skill you need is to hold your camera crooked, or as I like to

Article: Tilt your horizons.Shake up your compositions for dynamic images

Skill-wise, this is one of the easiest tips to execute. Attitude-wise, some of you may not find it so easy to do.

Article: Kick your bad picture-taking habits.Change is good.

By analyzing the photo conventions and biases—both personal and cultural—that influence your photography, you will be able to expand your creativity and refresh the joy of taking pictures.

News: 100 in 100: Kick your bad picture-taking habits.

Day 87: Here's a simple way to expand your photography. Photograph at different times and locations than you normally do. We all fall into habits. One habit we should try to develop is the habit

News: 100 in 100: The magic of the mundane.

Day 86: What is it you photograph? When do you photograph? This week's tips, which will usher out the old year and in the new, ask you to consider the very essence of your photography. By analyz

Article: The magic of the mundane.Don't overlook tiny beauty

Expand your creativity and refresh the joy of taking pictures.

Article: Know your camera’s limits.Match the tool to the picture-taking task

Do you know your digital camera’s strengths and weaknesses? They can vary so let’s look at a few critical areas to make sure you aren’t losing image quality because you aren’t compensating for your camera’s weaknesses.

News: 100 in 100: Know your camera’s limits.

Day 80: Do you know your digital camera’s strengths and weaknesses? They can vary so let’s look at a few critical areas to make sure you aren’t losing image quality because you aren’t compensati

News: 100 in 100: Make your camera sing.

Although I can't sing, my camera has a wonderful voice. When it's been fine-tuned, its voice results in expressive photos. Your camera is a complex electro-mechanical-optical device with hundred

Article: Make your camera sing.Lalalalalala

Although I can't sing, my camera has a wonderful voice. When it's been fine-tuned, its voice results in expressive photos.

Article: Activate the camera-Photoshop partnership.Think like your digital camera. What does that mean? Read on!

Photographers from the darkroom ages learned to take pictures in a way to facilitate further improvements in the darkroom. They would "expose for shadows and develop for highlights."

News: 100 in 100: Why your camera acts like a teenager.

Day 77: If you can get past the "No Trespassing" and "Private-Stay out" signs posted on your teenager's door, you'll see the same thing your cameras sees every day—a mess. Like a teenager's bedr

Article: Why your camera acts like a teenager.Think like your digital camera. What does that mean? Read on!

If you can get past the "No Trespassing" and "Private-Stay out" signs posted on your teenager's door, you'll see the same thing your cameras sees every day—a mess.

Article: Think like the camera.Understand its creative and technical potential

"But you don't understand me." That could be your digital camera talking as you look over your pictures and wonder how you can raise your game to the next level. Your camera is who it is and can't change. The camera-you relationship is truly one-sided. All responsibility for a better relationship lies with you.

News: 100 in 100: Think like the camera.

Day 76: "But you don't understand me." That could be your digital camera talking as you look over your pictures and wonder how you can raise your game to the next level. Your camera is who it is

Article: It's an imperfect world. Accept it.A cure for Photoshop addiction? Letting go

Organic and natural. Foods that grow without the artificial interference of inorganic chemicals. That's the trend in food. The reason? Because natural is, well, natural. Therefore, it must be wholesome and healthful. It's what nature has given us for thousands of years.

Article: Sharpen to show--not to kill.Finding a realistic middle ground, by the numbers

Sharpening photos is easy to overdo—especially for web display. Oversharpened photos seem filled with razor-sharped edges and internal details that look as prickly as a bed of nails. And tiny halos appear on contrasty edges. An oversharpened photo looks unnatural.

News: 100 in 100: Sharpen to show--not to kill.

Day 59: Sharpening photos is easy to overdo—especially for web display. Oversharpened photos seem filled with razor-sharped edges and internal details that look as prickly as a bed of nails. And

News: 100 in 100: Should grandma's face be as smooth as a baby's?.

Day 58: Welcome to day three of our attempts to cure the Photoshop addictions that plague the photographic world. Today, we wrestle with the question: Is it OK to retouch wrinkles or should you

Article: Should grandma's face be as smooth as a baby's?.Cure Photoshop addiction!

Today, we wrestle with the question: Is it OK to retouch wrinkles or should you leave them alone? Imagine making Grandma look like a Hollywood starlet. Don't you think there's something wrong with that?

Article: Cornering Curves and leveling Levels.Curing a common Photoshop addiction

Curves and Levels are the perhaps the most basic Photoshop adjustments because they address image fundamentals: brightness, contrast, and color.

Article: Too much color saturation? Not a good thing..Don't be a super soaker saturater

Congress should pass legislation against those who super saturate. Photoshop's saturation control is like the volume control for color, and pictures are being pumped up like everybody is deaf.

News: 100 in 100: Zoom for motion.

Day 22: For most of you zooming is not a new trick. That it is often viewed as a trick instead of a valid technique may mean you may seldom use it. And that’s fine. But like all tricks it can be

News: 100 in 100: Pantastic panning.

Day 23: I love surprises. That's why I love to pan. It's an action technique where you don't really know what the results will be. Here's a refresher. Panning is the main technique of conveying

Article: Adorama Photographs America: The Finger Lakes.Purple tongues, waterfall madness, and other surprises

Derek Doeffinger takes you on a tour of the Finger Lakes region of central New York state.

Article: Photographing Waterfalls.You're never far from a waterfall. Here's how to shoot 'em.

The great joy of photography is that it often takes you to inspiring subjects that make you feel happy. That’s how I became a happy waterfall addict.

Article: Use shadows to your photographic advantage.Lighten up your photographic sensibilities

When the sun shines, shadows come out to play, giving you a chance to create some unconventional photographs. So pick up your camera and catch a few before they flee at the approach of clouds.

News: 100 in 100: Shadow Play.

Day 39: When the sun shines, shadows come out to play, giving you a chance to create some unconventional photographs. So pick up your camera and catch a few before they flee at the approach of c

Article: Proofing and reviewing prints.How to make sure it's picture-perfect

When making a proof print, I often use 5 x 7 paper to save costs and time.

News: 100 in 100: Sharpening and printing.

Day 24: Whole books have been written on digital printing, so we’re going to highlight the critical areas. Any Epson, Canon, or HP printer that’s less than two years old and uses 6 or more ink

News: 100 in 100: Proofing and reviewing prints.

Day 25: When making a proof print, I often use 5 x 7 paper to save costs and time. In Photoshop, you can assess the paper’s approximate visual impact by going to ViewProof SetupCustom and choosi

Article: Fine-tune images in Photoshop.Prepare to print!

You’ve made major changes to your RAW image file; now it’s time to open it in Photoshop CS or Elements and fine-tune it.

Article: Adjust in RAW.Preparing for a picture-perfect print

You've chosen your image. Now it will need to be adjusted for the best possible print.

News: 100 in 100: What you need for great digital prints.

You’ve created a high-quality digital photograph. Now it’s time to turn it into the best print possible—one you’ll be proud to display and maybe even sell! This week, I’ll show you how to do t

Article: Ultimate Image Quality, Part II.Ultimate image quality picture taking techniques

Let's look at the techniques you should use to continue on the path of ultimate image quality while taking pictures. We're going to use those techniques to keep that image delivered by the lens to the sensor as sharp as possible while maximizing dynamic range of the image (which is just another way of saying getting a good exposure).

Article: Ultimate Image Quality.Getting serious about image quality

Are your photos as good as they can possibly be? Almost certainly not. Not if you aren’t practicing the principles of ultimate image quality. Would you like at least some of your pictures, say those once-in-a-lifetime shots, to reveal ultimate image quality? Well, then, let’s get started.